Sylvia Cook Photography {the blog}

Lucy turns one year!

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 04:54:00 +0000

If ever a photographer wished for an easy, perfect photo session with a one year old and a 3.5 year old, this would be it! This session was for Lucy's one year photos, but we had to include a few with big brother too. I photographed this family before Lucy was born, and it was wonderful to see what a sweet boy brother has turned out to be :) Both kids were so easy and well behaved. A dream really.
Look at those big beautiful brown eyes Lucy has!

family beach get away

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 23:27:00 +0000

Oh how I love going to the Washington coast! We have such a varied coastline here. Up in the northern most part of the state, the coastline is rugged and rocky, very different than the southern part of the state.
But the Ocean Shores or Longbeach area is perfect for a family getaway with two little boys. Lots of sand for digging and wide open space for kite flying!
I went for just 2 nights/3 days with one of my daughters and 2 grandsons. It was the first time both boys have been there together. The 4 year old was there as a toddler, so doesn't remember anyway.

Like it usually is at the ocean, there was fog in the morning, but we lucked out and the afternoons and evenings were beautiful and sunny. There was lots of playing in the sand with trucks, running around chasing seagulls, and kite flying going on. All in all, I think the boys really enjoyed themselves. Oh and deer, lots of deer to be seen, including right outside our condo in the grass.

And here was Bennett back in 2011 at the beach chasing the seagulls-

And here he is now!

Looking forward to many more of these fun little mini vacations!

Elsa and Phil Hawaii destination wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 05:08:00 +0000

Back in June, I was lucky enough to travel to Hawaii for a combination vacation and destination wedding. I've always thought it would be so fun to photograph a wedding in Hawaii, even though I really don't do weddings. This was a family gathering, so it was extra nice!

The venue was the Sunset Ranch, up in the hills of the beautiful north shore of Oahu. Of course it was a hot and humid day, even up in the mountains....but everything was so beautiful. The views, the natural plants and trees, and the set up and gorgeous colors Elsa choose.

It was a small intimate gathering, and the family and friends came from Washington and New Zealand.

Here's just a small selection from the beautiful day.....

Elsa and Phil, thank you for having me! It was a simply beautiful day, and you two make such a perfect, fun couple. I wish you all the best for your future together!

Elsa and Phil

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 00:17:00 +0000

If you're not a wedding photographer, but extended family is having a small destination wedding in Hawaii...do you jump at the chance to say "I'll photograph it!"
That's exactly what I did, when my son in law's sister announced her wedding would be in Hawaii. What a great excuse for a vacation, right? The wedding was planned to be at the Sunset Ranch on Oahu, but our trip would be extended to Kauai for another week afterwards. The ranch is an exclusive estate on the north shore of Oahu with beautiful ocean and mountain views. But we'll get to the ranch in the next post.

This blog post is about the day before the wedding. I met up with Elsa and Phil on the beach near where they were staying for some beach and sunset shots. Earlier in the day it absolutely poured down rain, but luckily it cleared up in time for the early evening.
Plus, I had just purchased a Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, and was eager to give it a try before the wedding the next day. Here's a few from that afternoon, some taken with the fisheye.

Sunset Ranch is an exclusive estate on the North Shore of Oahu with ocean and mountain views of the entire northwest side of the island. - See more at: http://www.sunsetranchhawaii.com/#sthash.wbRJwsls.dpuf

Olivia [newborn]

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 19:40:00 +0000

"In the sheltered simplicity of the first days after a baby is born, one sees again the magical closed circle, the miraculous sense of two people existing only for each other."
Author: Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Little Olivia was 11 days old when I spent the morning at her house doing her newborn photos. She pretty much was a champ. This post is a long time in coming, Olivia is going on 4 months old now, and is as cute as can be. Lots of smiles for Mom and Dad!

Here she is at 11 days old.......

Olivia's Grandmother was visiting from out of town helping out, so we got some of her with her newest grand child :)

Daddy and daughter....what a special bond these two will have!

Thanks for having me, and thanks for looking!

Sydney- conceptual portrait photography fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Thu, 15 May 2014 20:03:00 +0000

Some days you just have to get out and do something fun for yourself. I spend so much time dealing with my fine art work, from the photography, to the editing, uploading to numerous sites, promoting it, and dealing with sales and customers, that I crave doing something different!!

While I titled this post conceptual photography, these images are definately not as "out there" as alot of the conceptual works that you might see.
I wasn't going for anything too surreal, but still wanted a chance to use props and ideas. Plus to play in photoshop.

Wikipedia describes conceptual photography as: Conceptual photography is a type of photography that illustrates an idea. As a methodology conceptual photography is a type of photography that is staged to represent an idea. The 'concept' is both preconceived and, if successful, understandable in the completed image. It is most often seen in advertising and illustration where the picture may reiterate a headline or catchphrase that accompanies it. The term 'conceptual photography' used to describe a genre may refer to the use of photography in Conceptual Art or in contemporary art photography. In either case the term is not widely used or consistently applied.

So my friend and I talked her daughter into being our model/muse for the day. Armed with a van load of props, we packed up some lunch and made a day of it. Couldn't have asked for better weather, though I'd like to do this again in the winter with lots of fog! We sorta over packed, and ended up only using a small portion of the things we brought. Next time I'd like to be a little more focused, lol.
Anyway, here's a few of the ones I liked.

Something new

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 02:00:00 +0000

Work is all well and good, but sometime you have to step out of the box and do something different and for yourself, right? I really enjoy looking at conceptual art/photography and wanted to have a fun day to try my hand at it a bit with a fellow photographer friend. We have a full day of shooting planned for later in March with some cool ideas, but in the meantime we dragged her daughter down into her dark old basement to do some fun shooting.
The light was poor as was expected, but I was determined to just crank up the ISO and use available window light. I knew the look I wanted was dark, mysterious images anyway. Here's a few of the ones I played around with in photoshop. Hoping one of these days you'll see one of them on a book cover :)

October Halloween Fun 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 16:21:00 +0000

I thought I'd do a personal post this time around of the grandsons since October is such a fun month for them. Autumn in the PNW is so pretty and colorful, then there's the Pumpkin Patches and Halloween!

One day was spent at a local Pumpkin patch where the boys had so much fun as you can clearly see from this first image! No seriously, lots to see and do from animals, to a pumpkin patch, to tractors, to bubbles! And then a few of them in their Halloween costumes this year. We had a skeleton, a pumpkin, and a tiger!

And last but not least- there's a house in my daughter's neighborhood that goes all out for Halloween with a Pirates of the Caribbean theme. Everywhere you look are decorations, skeletons, a graveyard, a drawbridge, a pirate ship, and pumpkins. All this a pirates too! Simply amazing- like going to Disneyland!

I hope you had as much fun on Halloween as we did!

Sisters are the best!

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 01:00:00 +0000

I gotta give these 2 girls props for being so well behaved and fun to work with! And...they are only 2.5 years old! Talk about following directions well. We had a great morning, and I so enjoyed meeting them and their Mom and Auntie.

And I had to share some photos of the cute little mini accordion album I had made for them. Such a fun product, perfect for gift giving!

The 3 boys

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 03:24:00 +0000

I thought I'd get a few recent photos up on the blog of all 3 of my grandsons in one post today.

Cooper is the youngest, he's about 5 1/2 months old and growing like a weed!

Easton is about 14 months now, and the happiest easy going kid!

This 3 year old, I can get him to sit sort of still if he's playing with my ipad.

And I was able to get the 2 brothers together for about 30 seconds!

I just love my grandsons, they are the best!!! I have so much fun spending time with all of them!

Easton turns one!

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:30:00 +0000

Well, it was only a month ago that lil Easton, my grandson #2 turned one! The weather was beautiful for a March day, so we were able to enjoy outside time. Easton's party was pretty laid back, just family and a couple friends. After the cake smash, my daughter and I packed up the baby in the car along with a few props and headed to a nearby field.
Easton was awesome! He wasn't cranky, and seemed to enjoy the balloons, tent and his new toys.
It's hard to believe he has turned ONE already!
In case you missed his birth- you can see it here.
And his newborn session at 6 days old here.

Here's a little pre- party time

And of course the cake smash. Easton pretty much devoured his entire cupcake!

Now for the field pictures

Gasworks Park family session

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:30:00 +0000

Another extended family session from last fall I'm just getting around to blogging! I've been doing portraits for this family for a few years, but they always have been newborns and baby sessions. Heather decided it was time to get some updated photos of all the adults in this blended family. The challenge....finding a day that worked for everyone!
We marked a day on the calendar at the end of October, hoped for good weather, and picked a meeting place between between the 2 of us. This actually was my first session at Gasworks Park in Seattle. This place has a little bit of everything, and as luck would have it, the weather was in our favor!.

The Dawson family

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 01:15:00 +0000

Here's a family session from last fall, yes last fall! I am so far behind with my blogging! I met up with this family of 3 and their dog before Christmas, so we could get photos for cards and gifts. We got lucky and had a nice day on the beach.

Cooper Samuel 14 days old

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 22:39:00 +0000

Here's my follow up newborn shoot with my grandson Cooper. I posted his birth photos HERE.
He was 14 days exactly on this date, Jan 1st. He was a smashing finish to our 2012, and a amazing start to 2013. We did a few more the following week to add mommy and daddy in some of them. So glad he's arrived, safe and sound....and cute as can be as you'll see!!!

Cooper Samuel- worth the wait

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 17:00:00 +0000

some days you think, there is no way i could love them more . . . then tomorrow comes . . . and you do.

Just over 2 weeks ago

this precious little boy joined our family

and I was blessed enough to be there for the birth

I couldn't love him more, or his mommy & daddy.

We needed this little miracle rainbow baby

In October of 2011 his mommy lost twins at 20 weeks gestation.

Now we have Cooper Samuel, not to replace them, but to shine on his own.

There's only one thing better than becoming a grandmother, and that's being at the birth and photographing it.

~meet Cooper in the first minutes of his life~

Let's get this show on the road!!!

and the next day:)

Cooper is my third grandson now. I had 2 daughters, so boys are new to me. It's been a fun ride since the first one was born almost 3 years ago. I didn't get to take #1 birth photos, but I did for #2 if you want to see his birth story.

Little miracles, every one.

Snippets from 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:18:00 +0000

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the year 2013....sounds so futuristic! Where did 2012 go to so fast? For me it was lots of fun and busyness in both my personal and profession life.
On the personal side, the year started with my first grandson turning 2. Then a few months after that, the BIRTH of my second grandson and the wonderful opportunity to be present and photograph that BIRTH!
Then I enjoyed doing the NEWBORN session for him.
Did a couple of really fun photographer PLAY DATES and had fun photographing kids and seniors! The GIRLS were gorgeous!

I took several little 2-3 day getaways around Washington state for fun and picture taking opportunities.
My one big vacation was to New Orleans in August. August, right? Isn't that the hottest, muggiest time of the year? Well....yes it is. And it's also prone to hurricanes! Which is exactly what happened while I was there....Hurricane Issac. The airport closed down the day of my flight back home, so I got to stay there for another 4 days....yay! It wasn't all bad. More sightseeing opportunities, and more bloody marys:)
Believe it or not, I actually haven't finished figuring out what photos I want to blog, so I haven't done a post yet. That's the problem when you take so many photos! Maybe I'll give you just one for now though......

Then another highlight of 2013 was the birth of my third grandson!!! This just happened in December, and I am currently working on those images, so a blog post will be here soon. I was extremely happy to be present for that birth also. What a miracle. Stay tuned for that post!

My fine art business is going great. I have many places that I sell my images, as prints, canvas, and lots of products like pillows, phone cases, laptop and ipad skins, totes....the list goes on and on! I belong to a couple FB groups with awesome, talented, supportive people that helps to bring some fun into all the many hours of work necessary to get it all done. I've been amazed at the success so far this year, much more than I ever imagined! I'm so appreciative of all those people out there that like my photography enough to buy it on products:)
You can find my work on:
ETSY
SOCIETY6
ZAZZLE
FINE ART AMERICA
ART OF WHERE
THE KASE - currently in shops in France - online opening up soon!
RED BUBBLE

I only take portrait client work part time, because of juggling all of the above AND my nursing job where I work 12 hour days. 2012 brought me some great clients and sessions, so I thought I'd share a few images from those for you. Thank you all, it was a pleasure to work with you!!

Thanks for keeping up with me and following my blog! Wishing you all the happiest, healthiest 2013!

Morgan

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 17:00:00 +0000

This post has been a long time in coming! Last summer I met up with a group of photographers for a "play date", and Morgan was one of the beautiful models we had the pleasure to work with for the day. As you'll see, she is stunningly gorgeous!!! That was a huge part of the problem with the delay in posting. There were hardly any that I rejected, hardly any that I didn't like. I tried SO hard to narrow down the images for the post, but just couldn't bear to not post all of these. So many different looks and locations.
So be prepared for a big post, and an extremely photogenic girl!

To see Morgan's equally stunning sister Maegan....have a look HERE.

Desktop calendar giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 02:43:00 +0000

Time for another giveaway this month!
I decided to order up a few of my desktop calendars that I sell on Etsy called "whimsical".
I really like the way this one turned out so much I'm keeping one for myself, but that still leaves one for a giveaway.

Here's what you get:
"Whimsical" 2013 Desk Calendar, featuring 12 whimsical landscape, nature or floral photographs.

You can display each loose page in a stand up acrylic frame, hang on the fridge, or on an easel at your desk.
Each page is printed on high quality archival photo paper with a beautiful luster finish.

The page size comes 5x7, and the square image is 5x5, perfect to cut out and frame after monthly use. At the end of the year, you will have a gallery of photographs to display individually or as a grouping.

This calendar features a cover image and 12 loose pages of photographs, each of a whimsical, fun or inspirational nature. Quotes and sayings are part of the charm!

The 5x5 photograph fits nicely into the beautiful Ikea Ribba shadow box frame which is 9 3/4 x 9 3/4 and matted to an opening of 4 3/4 x 4 3/4. (see last image).

This giveaway only includes the 13 loose calendar images, not the acrylic frame or the Ribba frame.

Open to residents of the USA only, sorry.

P.s. If anyone is interested in any of these as single prints, phone cases, cards, laptop skins, or tote bags - you can find them in my Society6 shop!

Enter below with the easy Rafflecopter widget!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

iphone4 case giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 04:34:00 +0000

There's something about the upcoming holidays that makes me want to start doing giveaways! All I have to do is remember first, then find the time to do my posts. There will be a few different ones in the coming months, so be sure and follow this blog or my Facebook page so you don't miss out!

The first item for giveaway is going to be this case for the iphone4 or 4s. (sorry to those of you with a different phone...maybe you have a friend to give it to?)

I call this one "To Infinity and Beyond". It's one of my oil and water macro images. The case is a hard plastic snap on case with black sides. The image is printed on the front.
The process used for printing is a die sub metal printing process which is then adhered to the plastic housing cover.

So easy to enter with the Rafflecopter widget below. First 2 entries are mandatory, the others give you extra entries!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Maegan

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000

2 years in a row now that I've gotten together with some other local photographers and met at an awesome location to have FUN shooting senior models!! I really looked forward to this day, not only to play and hang out with friends and meet new people, but to photograph beautiful models! Heck, I'm already looking forward to next year.

It's taken me a long time to get this first blog post up, because I had the hardest time narrowing down the images to process and post. I loved so many of them. This post is going to be heavy with images as it is.

I'll have a couple future posts with some more of the girls from this day, but for now.....meet Maegan!
Some of these were shot with my lensbaby sweet 35. It's nice to be able to experiment (practice) with it on just a fun shoot, because it does take practice!!

Aiden 4 days old | Newcastle newborn photographer

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 21:29:00 +0000

Little Aiden was the youngest newborn that I've ever had a session with at only 4 days old! He was such a squishy sweet little guy:)
We combined some indoor and outdoor shots and ended up with some cute ones!
This first one will be coming soon in a nice big wall canvas for Mom and Dad!

newborn Bryson- Marysville newborn photographer

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:21:00 +0000

Little Bryson is the new baby brother to a little girl that I have been photographing since she was born.

We had Bryson's session when he was 8 days old, so new! The day was nice, so we were able to get some indoor and outdoor shots.

Meet Bryson Michael....so perfect!

Seattle urban family portrait session

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 18:36:00 +0000

Wow, I'm so far behind with blogging past sessions. That usually doesn't happen with me too often!
This fun family urban session was done in July, and I was so pleased when the idea of urban came up! I wish more people would book those types of shoots. The opportunities are so endless!

Anyway, this family is new to the Seattle area (from Ohio) and they wanted something different than the past looks they had done. Seattle has so many places and looks for city shots, but we concentrated mainly on the graffiti look. I've used this location once before, and was excited to go back!

I think this first one is my fave of the day!

And how cute that the 2 dogs came along!

Welcome to Seattle K family! I hope you love it here as much as I do!!

Fun with an animated gif

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 20:47:00 +0000

More on this session blogged later, but I just had to see if I could figure out how to do the animated gif in Photoshop. Kinda fun!!

You'll love the rest of this fun urban family session...stay tuned for more!

A Day at the Beach July photo challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Sylvia Cook Photography) — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 23:42:00 +0000

I haven't done a linked in photo challenge in quite awhile, so thought it was about time! Especially when I saw that Rock the Shot was having one called "a day at the beach".
The first one that came to mind was this one of my grandson Bennett on his very first visit to the ocean at the age of about 18 months. He had a ball!! No fear of the water, or the seagulls for that matter. It was so fun to see him run around all over on that big huge beach for the first time. I like the way this image makes him look so small.
I also edited it with some texture to give it a little oomph!

Please take a little time to click on the button below and go have a look at some of the other day at the beach entries!

www.rocktheshotforum.com